Gordon R. lives in Ontario, Canada and flies all over North America. He owns a 2007 Cessna T182T equipped with No-Hazard TKS Ice Protection, which he has flown for over 6 years.
How did you get started in aviation?
It’s something I got into doing after my business started to wind down. I’ve been flying for about 17 years.
Why did you choose TKS?
Around the Great Lakes, if you want to fly in the winter, unless you’re very choosey of the days you fly, you need TKS.
I’ll tell you why we chose TKS. We were inbound to Turks and Caicos at 17,000 feet, and we went through the top of a cloud. The plane instantly went “weerrchk!” It sounded just like that. The plane was just covered in ice. My wife was with me. She knew I had been looking at TKS, and she said “You’re getting TKS.”
What does TKS do for your mission?
It allows me to fly on days that I would not fly. Up here in Canada we have an organization called Hope Air. It’s similar to Angel Flights and other organizations. I’m a volunteer. We fly people to get to their medical appointments, whether it’s for operation or doctors appointments. Typically they are in more remote destinations in Ontario, as much as northern Ontario. It allows me to do those flights where I typically would not. I can get up through the clouds and back down through them again. I wouldn’t attempt that if I didn’t have TKS.
Any memorable experiences in icing with TKS?
I’ve had many occasions where I say, “Man, I’m glad I’ve got TKS.” On one of my flights for Hope Air about a month ago, I was coming into Toronto City Centre. The ceilings were supposed to be 3,500 feet. That was the TAF for the day. The ceilings were down to about 700 feet. So, of course the approach to the airport was in solid IMC. I was picking up ice. Or, I should say, I would have been picking up ice if I didn’t turn on the TKS. I saw the cloud just north of the city. I would have had to divert without the TKS.
Have you flown in aircraft with other ice protection systems?
Yes, boots. I was surprised how much residual material was left with the boots. I like the way TKS flows back. You don’t get the same buildup or ridge that boots don’t cover.